Chapter 13: canterlot part 4: baggage drop off
Castle: main floor dining hall
A royal dinner was something that spike wasn't treated to for a long time. They were events that he used to worry about due to his gem only diet. However, he should have known better back then. Not only did he get gems, he got the best damn gems he'd ever tasted. These facts, even after 3 years, haven't changed. "You have to send me back with a couple of these!" spike said excitedly while chomping the gems on his plate down. "What happened to being a responsible eater?!" twilight asked the drake. Spike looked directly at her and pointed at his plate with comedic emphasis. It's almost as if their time wasn't lost at all. Spike's worries were still on his mind but not as visible. Conversation was happening, laughs were being had and nothing was amiss. However, on the other side of things was trixie. She was silent and barely spoke a word to anyone at the large table. She didn't want to put off the impression of ungratefulness. She knew how to fake a smile and nod while not knowing exactly what everyone was talking about. 'I still can't believe it…. Fluttershy and you…" flash directed the conversation back at spike's love life. "Well… i mean, things happen sometimes" he replied with a shrug. "Things happen, you hook up with one of my friends and that's things happening!" twilight replied with a shocked reaction. "I mean yeah, it's a thing, right?" spike asked her jokingly. Trixie was actually getting quite nervous to contribute. After egging on spike for the entire trip about speaking out, she's the most silent. "Well you better treat her right, if you don't, i'll know" twilight replied, giving spike the judgemental eye. "Me, mistreat fluttershy, pfft!" spike replied swatting his claw at her, making both twilight and trixie smile. Spike took a quick glance at trixie realizing her complete silence. "Is something up with her?" spike thought to himself. "So what about your travel buddy, how'd this happen?" twilight asked pointing at both trixie and spike. "Oh!, um…." spike was not the quickest to reply when it came to this. "I owe him a lot…" these were the first words that trixie spoke during the entire dinner.
No matter how many times she says this, it still surprises him. To the point where he thought the mare sitting in front of him was always inside of her. "Would you care to elaborate?" luna asked her, sitting right beside her sister on the table. "Ok…, well he saved me from a pack of diamond dogs and gave me a place to stay when i didn't have one…" trixie said shyly. Luna chuckled, assessing her and easily picking up on something the room didn't understand. "I see…" luna replied, twilight directed her gaze at spike. "Looks like you kept the same heart, even when i'm gone.." twilight said, sounding like she was about to shed a tear. "Maybe i should have reassigned elements then" celestia said, getting a laugh from the entire room. This isn't the first time she's thanked spike for all he's done. This time feels different to her in almost every way. The words carried more weight to them and that made her extremely flushed. "So, what have you been up to since that last time i saw you trixie?" twilight asked, actively wanting to engage trixie in conversation. "Well, i have been running a shop with an old friend in ponyville" trixie replied, slowly breaking out of her shell. She decided to leave out any details before this happened. "That's nice, i assume it's a magic shop?" twilight asked curiously. Trixie almost wanted to laugh at the idea of her being attached to stage magic at that degree. "No, it's more a smaller version of a trading post" she replied. "Hmm… interesting, long ago, i've heard stores like that slowly gaining traction over the traditional trading event" twilight replied, trixie nodded in agreement. "Why don't you tell my boss that one, we barely get service sometimes.." trixie replied with a small chuckle. "Has your boss tried special advertising, promotions, anything of that nature" twilight replied, serious about giving her business advice. "It's hard to do some special promotions based on the some of the items we receive" trixie replied. Twilight nodded and replied "so she's a collector". Trixie nodded and the rest of the table found humor in all of this. "You better listen up, your getting a whole seminar worth of advice for free" luna commented, getting a chuckle from trixie. Luna looked up at the window and saw the sky's darkened color. "Well, i must be going, duty calls" luna said, getting up from her seat next to trixie.
As she was walking, luna stopped in place and quickly pranced back to trixie. "Me and you will talk tomorrow" she whispered to trixie, getting a nod in reply from her. Luna walked up to her room, preparing to take flight for her nightly rounds. This left our main 5 sticking to the giant table. Their food at this point was halfway done and most of their time was spent just catching up with each other. "Speaking of shops, have you received any business for the library?" twilight asked. "Oh um….." spike was not prepared for this question. He didn't even think that twilight wanted to keep the library as a business. "I kinda… destroyed the checkout desk, the library's been closed for awhile now" spike replied, twilight was dead silent after hearing this. "I needed more living space…" the more spike tried to back himself out of the corner, the worse it sounded. "Hm…, well, where's my 2,000 bits?" twilight asked out of the blue with an air of tenseness. "Huh?!" spike was shocked by the absurdly high number she's asking for. "Due to first buy, the polishing and repairs done to the desk as well, that's how much you owe me" twilight said this with the most stark tone. "Come on, you probably make twice that much!" spike exclaimed in reply. "next time, you should have asked me via letter about destroying my property" twilight replied. All was silent, it looked as if spike was sweating bullets. Trixie was making a movement in her chair, almost as if she was about to say something. Then, twilight started chuckling and then breaking into a laugh. "I don't care what you do with the place, i gave it to you anyways!" she exclaimed still in unbroken laughter. Spike had a sigh of relief and let out a chuckle himself. Trixie was silent, surprised at what she was thinking about doing. "I was ready to pay out of pocket about 2,000 bits, what's wrong with me?!" trixie thought to herself. "Alright everyone, it's getting late, let's get some sleep, tomorrow should be a long day" celestia said, getting a nod from everyone on the table.
"Trixie, spike, let me show you to your room" celestia addressed to the both of them. Spike and her were confused about the wording she used. "Excuse me, our?" both of them asked in unison. "This castle is large but it's not a hotel, it's only meant to house a small amount of ponies" celestia explained. Spike nodded but then he thought about something. "About the room…" spike was about to ask until twilight stood up to confirm his theory. "It was supposed to be your room, it's quite nice actually" twilight still kept her cheery attitude. "I bet it is" spike replied with a smile. Trixie was surprised at the instant amount of composure and lack of fear from spike. Maybe all the smiles actually helped him a bit. Trixie yawned, actually getting a little tired herself. "If there's a soft bed, i call the bed" trixie said, telling her first halfway joke. It got a chuckle from the room. The joke was only effective because she was at least 80% serious about it. "Alright, enough fun, a princess needs her sleep too" celestia said, finishing with her own half serious joke as she lead the group to their room.
Castle: main floor, boarding hallways
"For housing a small amount of ponies, there sure are a lot of doors" spike commented as the group were walking through the halls. Twilight decided to tag along for a reason she didn't necessarily explain to trixie and spike. "Well, for a castle this large in size, i call it a small amount" celestia replied with a smile. This gained a chuckle from spike and trixie. Twilight was completely in her head while walking with everyone. She was lagging behind and seemed barely engaged. While spike was talking to the princess, this left trixie to ponder about her. "Hey…" trixie tried to engage with twilight in a hushed tone before she finally woke from her half stasis. "Oh, sorry, i was just thinking.." twilight replied with the same tone, not even trying to fake a smile. Saying that trixie never held a grudge would be a complete lie. Half her life was dedicated by acting out vengeance based on a grudge. However, after all the time that passed between the two, it was almost like that grudge never existed. "Um… are you sure your ok?" trixie asked. Twilight nodded and replied "even if i wasn't, i don't want to worry spike". Without even thinking about it, trixie nodded in reply. Twilight noticed this nod and that immediately peaked interest away from her melancholy. "Hey, how's it been between you two?" she asked trixie. This question seemed to have come from nowhere in trixie's mind. "Eventful but the good kind of eventful" trixie replied in a manner not even she understood fully. "I wish i could say the same for myself…" twilight replied with a sigh. Trixie was surprised by her admitting this. "Don't be insulted when i ask this but…" before trixie could even finish her assumption, twilight quickly interjected. "No, it's not the work!" just the assumption that work might be too much to handle was insult enough for twilight. Sadly, twilight was loud enough with her frustration that the rest of the group heard it. Spike and celestia immediately turned their attention to her. "Sorry…" twilight said, receding into embarrassment. Celestia sighed, her saying this was the closest to understanding her mindset in months.
"Then what is it?" celestia was thinking this but couldn't ask her this for now. Trixie decided not to push further either. Spike took her outburst a little bit harder though. For now he didn't feel like speaking on it or expressing that worry. "I think we should just get going" spike said, desperately wanting to be anywhere else but next to twilight. Twilight knew the dragon for years, so of course she noticed the jaded nature in his voice. "Spi…." before twilight could say anything, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Twilight looked to her side and saw trixie doing only one thing. Shaking her head, signaling her to drop it for now. Twilight decided to take her advice and subtly nodded in confirmation. They all continued their walk in a deafening silence. Nobody knowing what to say to each other after that point. Trixie was ready to accept this at first but something was bothering her about it. Before she even could say anything, this time she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was twilight and she had a request for trixie in a hushed tone. "Could you tell spike not to blame himself?" trixie nodded in acceptance. However, it didn't really feel like the truth to her. "I think him seeing you constantly bottle things up is a little worse" she replied in a hushed tone. Twilight then turned to her and said something that would stick with trixie for the rest of the night. "You know what they say about glass houses trixie…" twilight said this with a ridiculous amount of hushed attitude. Trixie sighed, knowing that this is way beyond just the truth. After that small confrontation, the rest of the walk to the room was dead silent.
Castle: spike and trixie's guest room
The room was massive and it definitely showed signals of not being just for one. The room walls were white, like any other in the castle but the similarities stop there. Two king sized beds were the first thing you saw when opening the door. They looked comfy and damn inviting to the two looking at them. Between the beds was a small desk with a framed photo of something spike couldn't make out. Even with these beds there was enough room to walk around and find a large circular stained glass window on the far right side of the room. Giving you an amazing view of the city of canterlot. There were two doors for each side of the room, these were seperate bathrooms with showers for the both of them. "This… this is a masterpiece, i almost wanna cry…" trixie commented, gaining a smile from celestia and twilight. Spike was very indifferent and his response proved that. "Yeah… i think i'm just ready to finally rest" his voice was drained beyond belief. He just walked inside the room and picked the bed that was closest to the window. This left celestia, trixie and twilight still standing outside of the room. Both celestia and trixie saw twilight in her own type of mood. "I guess were all a little tired today…" trixie said with an awkward chuckle. Twilight gave her a nod in reply and decided to leave without a goodbye. Celestia saw her walking away and gave a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry about that, just try and get some rest, ok?" celestia directed this at both spike and trixie. Spike would rather look up at the ceiling then talk but trixie nodded in reply. Celestia then decided to leave as well, secretly hoping to catch twilight before she disappeared to her workroom.
Trixie sighed, walking to her bed and collapsing onto it. In her laid position, she turned her head towards spike. "Just letting you know, twilight said not to blame yourself.." she said half heartedly, knowing it wouldn't mean much. "Of course she did but i know the truth…" spike replied, literally doing the opposite of twilight's request. "Spike, you really don't know if that's the case…" trixie replied, spike then turned his head towards her direction. "She said it wasn't work…" spike replied, having that be the only proof he needs for self blame. "But that doesn't mean your existence would fix that and you know that" trixie replied, not really knowing that many things to say. "I...i know but what if it could?" spike asked her. Trixie was silent for a good minute. "Are you implying…" before trixie could finish this thought, spike confirmed it. "I'm thinking of staying, becoming an assistant again…" spike didn't sound too thrilled by this and trixie wasn't sure how to feel. "Didn't you want to do your own thing, find who you are?" trixie asked him, spike shook his head. "That goes on the backburner, i need to try and help her" spike replied. "He's doing it again…" trixie thought to herself, referring to looking after everyone else but himself. It can be an endearing trait but also a deadly one and trixie sees it breaking him down. "Do you think twilight would really want to see you give up something you wanted for her?" trixie asked directly, hoping this would snap him out of it. Spike was quiet, this was something that he really was thinking about. "I…" it started with a smaller sniffle. Spike was thinking and thinking but just couldn't find the answer. "Spike…" trixie tried to naively call out to him. "I… i don't think i know what to do…." spike said, putting his claws on his face. Everything was becoming a headache. He now remembers exactly why coming to the castle felt like a nightmare to him. Trixie just continued to lay in her bed for awhile. Hoping that spike would start to sleep it off. However, something in the back of her mind didn't want to leave things like this. "Why don't you just talk to her?" trixie asked him. This lead to another mile of silence and another sniffle heard from spike. She then saw spike lift his head up and look at her with reddened eyes. "Because i'm scared beyond belief about what choice i'll make" he said, those words shook trixie to the core. Trixie didn't know what to say to that but she did feel a very strong emotion. "Think of all the stuff you have at ponyville, i mean, you have a marefriend for crying out loud!" trixie first exclaimed in a half joking tone. However, she couldn't hide the frustration in her voice while saying this. "I could ask her to move here….." spike replied, gearing more towards staying at the castle. "So your gonna uproot her, just to help one mare?" trixie was genuinely baffled by how many backflips spike is taking. "She's not just one mare, she raised me…" spike replied, in a faded tone. He knew his logic was getting shakier and shakier but this is all he could think of. "And what if she doesn't want to come?" she asked him, hoping to recover some kind of sense from him.
However, all she heard was silence from him. He's not thinking deeply about this, not at all. "So be it then" spike said with a sigh, breaking the silence. These words, the carelessness of the words really got to trixie. "So your just gonna abandon everything…" trixie responded passively. "I….i guess" spike replied, his unsure nature still attached to his voice. "Then it's not worth it" trixie point blank replied to the drake. "Excuse me, who are you to tell me anything.." spike replied with annoyance in his voice. At first, trixie was trying to restrain herself and understand how he's feeling. However, when he started gaining attitude with her, her old personality started to slowly seep out. "I, for one, am the mare that's thinking about this more then you…" trixie replied, hoping this was enough to get out of conflict. Spike soon started grimacing at her and it felt extremely different for him. "Why don't you stay out of this one" spike replied with annoyance in his voice. Yep, if trixie wasn't starting to get pissed off at the drake, this would be exactly when she did. "Oh i'm sooo sorry for trying to give you advice" trixie said with a extreme bite of attitude. "Advice, i didn't ask for your advice!" spike exclaimed in frustration and anger. Him saying this is what lead to an ultimate blow up between the two. "Don't get pissed at me because your plan is shitty!" she fired back at him. "I'm warning you, step away from this…" spike replied with a quiet intensity, seeming like a threat. At this point both of them were completely sat up in their beds. "What did you say to me?" trixie asked, replying with her own semi threatening tone. "You know what i meant…" spike said passively. His head didn't feel clear at all, it was like an entirely different dragon took control of him. This reminded him of the time when he was consumed by greed. He didn't even notice that his claws were out during this whole thing. Trixie did and she was either the stupidest or bravest mare to ever stand alongside spike. She got up and walked to spike's bed, putting herself face to face with the drake. "Then do something about it, hurting me isn't gonna change how much of a coward you're being right now!" trixie was beyond pissed at spike during this point. Honestly, maybe she wasn't thinking clearly either. They were both deadlocked, waiting for one of them to make some kind of move. As he was looking in her eyes, his first and most feral instinct was to take her up on her offer. However, his claws started to shake and his thoughts started to fully construct themselves. "I…" his rage was slowly starting to subside. Trixie was honestly relieved that she didn't just set herself up to die.
"I don't wanna go backwards…" spike said softly, the only words he could truly muster. Trixie took a deep breath, admittedly still slightly pissed about the drake threatening her. "I..i don't know what to say to you anymore…" trixie, at this very moment, was close to completely giving up on spike. "No, you said plenty…" spike replied, his voice suddenly gaining more cracks. Trixie was at a loss for words at this point. She wasn't a wise mare at all and didn't have all the answers but she wanted to give it one last try. "Spike…" trixie addressed the drake to gain his attention. He looked up towards her and was ready to listen. "Whatever choice you make… if it's yours, then you are moving forward" trixie said this to him from the bottom of her heart. Even while spike was still in his mood, he felt that from her. "Um, thank you…" spike replied to her, feeling slightly better. Trixe nodded, the whole argument actually made her quite tired. She shuffled back to her bed and plopped onto it. "And, i'm sorry for… you know…" trixie heard spike start to apologize halfly but she already dismissed it. "Hey, it's fine, i know it wasn't you…." trixie said, sounding half sleep in the process. "How?" spike asked, honestly believing her. "Your eyes…." trixie sounding closer and closer to being sleep. "Huh?" spike was puzzled by what she meant by that. At this point, trixie was in a lucid state, she wouldn't remember the last thing she said. "Your eyes are the most expressive part about you, they told the truth… and… i… lo…" before she could finish her sentence, she was fast asleep. Spike laughed off what trixie was about to say while half sleep. "My eyes, huh?" spike thought to himself, it almost provoked him to blush. Spike decided to hit the hay as well, he's gonna have an eventful day tomorrow.
Castle, floor 2: twilight's personal quarters
To think that twilight would be able to get some sleep would be a fool's idea. She was beating herself up about the outburst she had repeatedly. "Why did i do that?" she asked herself with nobody around to call her crazy for doing so. She's been asked this question so many times before. She's a born worker and her nose was still the most comfortable in a book. It was an easy one to answer, no, a simple no would have done just fine. She was lying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. For the first time in a while, she didn't want to even look at her stack of papers on the work desk. She knew it was basically useless to send a message through trixie to alleviate his worries. "He's probably trying to stay here…" twilight said to herself. The one question that never popped up in her head is whether or not she'd stop him. As she was laying around in her room, she heard a knock on her door. "Twilight… it's me.." twilight could recognize that voice in a crowd of millions. It was celestia and she didn't need to even say her name for twilight to know that. She contemplated not even answering the door but peeving the princess didn't seem like good idea. She got up and went for the door, opening up to reveal a less then happy looking celestia.
"Twil…" celestia looked as if she was ready for speech mode but twilight was ready with her counter. "What i did was selfish, i know and i'm sorry, didn't know what came over me" twilight quickly interjected her. Celestia was not surprised with how easily she predicted what she was about to lecture her on. "Thanks, skipped me a lecture, now let's actually talk" celestia replied to her. Twilight was able to get a chuckle out of that and thought of something. "I don't think this is the best place to have a long form conversation" twilight replied. Celestia nodded and suggested a different place "how about the garden?" she suggested, shocking twilight. "Isn't it a little late to do that?" twilight asked. "Tonight's a beautiful night, might as well enjoy it" celestia replied with a smile. For twilight, she was torn on whether or not she wanted to talk with celestia. Talking hasn't really done that much for her lately. "We don't even need to talk, get some time outside and under the stars, clear your head" celestia added to her statement. Twilight thought on that suggestion and made a quick decision. "Sounds good" twilight replied, for once actually seeking out a change of scenery. Celestia was actually surprised she managed to get twilight outside of her room. "Alright, let's go before you change your mind!" celestia said in excitement that would seem uncharacteristic for her. Twilight knows this as the most personal version of celestia you'd get to know. This slightly warmed her heart and got her to smile once more. Celestia was already out the door and twilight quickly followed suit
Castle garden
The garden was already a pretty and calming place to be. However, during the night with the smallest bit of candlelight coming from set locations. It made the garden almost seem magical without even casting a spell. With the stars guiding them to one of the only small open fields in the garden. The two decided to skip finding the bench in the garden and just lay on the grass side by side. There was an almost eerie silence between the two. Twilight was occupied by the stars in the sky and celestia was occupied with her worries. "Twilight…" celestia called out to her. Twilight sighed, not even turning her head towards the princess. "I can't keep babysitting you, i need to know your gonna be ok…" celestia was lacking care at this point. She was honestly just hoping that she'd have any kind of feedback from her. "I know…." twilight replied to her passively. "So, if you feel any kind of way right now, while i still have the time to help, please tell me" celestia seemed desperate, this was her last attempt to reach her. Twilight was thinking about just staying quiet. I mean, she was offered the option of just staying silent. However, something about what celestia said bothered her. She finally turned her head away from the stars and put her focus on celestia. "I can't describe it at times…" the princess was finally seeing some kind of breakthrough. "But, i don't feel as connected to the world, that's the best i can do description wise" twilight said softly. Celestia nodded, she was paying full attention to her words. Once she this from her pupil's mouth, it became immediately clear to her what's going on. "Twilight, it's hard to admit at first but i know what your feeling…." celestia was about to start but twilight already knew her assumption. "I can't be lonely…. I just can't!" twilight interjected loudly, like celestia hit a pretty sensitive bone. However, her emotions were still slowly fading.
Celestia finally understood where she was and it broke her heart more then not understanding her. "Friends, family, genuine connection will keep you grounded to world, without that…." celestia was saying but she was once again interrupted by twilight. "I… i do, flash, he hangs out with me" she seemed desperate to defend herself from celestia's correct assumption. "On your time, which you purposely make none of" celestia quickly responded. She didn't want to even raise her voice at twilight. Based on how twilight sounded, she was almost ready to break into tears. "If i gonna become something great, i need the discipline to achieve it…" twilight replied shakily. She knew her logic wasn't sound but all she wanted was to protect herself. "So protecting ponyville, canterlot and who knows how many other places, isn't enough?" celestia genuinely asked. "If it was, i wouldn't be a desk worker…" twilight replied with her voice still shaky. "I..i thought you wanted a job as a transcripter" celestia replied, her memory of that day being unclear. Twilight was silent, she remembered that day perfectly. "You didn't tell me this but i'm sure you wanted the job to stay close to your friends" celestia said, at this point working off of pure theory. Twilight then started shaking her head in pure denial. "No.." twilight couldn't even reply with a counter reason. "Come on, i know you're smarter then this…" the moment these words came out of celestia's mouth, that's when she started breaking down. Twilight at first just sigh but the sniffles soon started coming. "Your right… but, if i'm going to be anything like…." twilight stopped mid sentence, not wanting that to slip out. "Like...me?" celestia asked, fearing that being the truth of it all. "Twilight, um…" celestia for the first time in awhile was taken aback by something. "I know, right, for me, that's the silliest thing in the world…" this is the moment that tears started forming in twilight's eyes. "It's just, this has been a dream and being an ambassador would have been amazing years ago…" celestia was just blown aback by her continued breakdown. "But...but i keep looking back, i wanna stop looking back!" twilight finished into a full on sob. "Twilight…" celestia addressed her in a much softer and motherly tone.
Twilight looked towards her with tears still freshly coming from her eyes. "Sometimes friendships fade and maybe there are times your gonna be alone…" celestia was starting to speak but as she was, she was slowly forming connections with her younger self. Twilight very much reminded her of a pre princess version of herself. "But, you still have time and time can mean so many things for you" celestia finished with words that came from the bottom of her heart. Twilight crying started to soften a little bit and her words were starting to stick. "I..i want to see them again, i don't want them to disappear" twilight said, her voice still shaky and recovering from her breakdown. "They don't have to yet, spike is here, set something up with him" celestia was beyond happy to finally start reaching twilight, even if it was slowly. Twilight took a deep breathe, trying to shake off her current emotions. "I'll...i'll try that" twilight said softly, giving her something to think about. "It doesn't go away easily, it takes time but don't shut yourself off, there is always a new adventure to go on" celestia last bit of wisdom hit twilight the hardest. This is something she wanted to hear for a long time. However, she didn't have the emotional power at the time to say this for herself. Twilight nodded in reply and looked back up at the stars. This time with more of a slightly changed outlook on her world. "You know what, i think i want that break" twilight said, her eyes still glued to the sky. Celestia looked at her pupil with a smile, knowing she's breaking her shell. "Sure, maybe we can discuss other things as well.." celestia added, knowing twilight would catch on to what she meant. However, with a sigh, twilight returned her gaze to celestia. "Um, not yet, give me time to think about that offer" she replied, still not sure about the position she was offered years ago. "Of course, ambassador is a big ask, although i'll admit, the offer does have a time limit" celestia replied, twilight nodding in acknowledgement. "Give me a day, let me talk to spike first, then i'll be sure" twilight replied. While still being on the ropes about moving on from what was her home for years. It was still the most solid answer celestia has gotten to this question from her.
She nodded in acknowledgement, grateful that this time she's actually thinking about it. Twilight was contempt at staying in her position forever. However, the princess had many other things to do the next day that required her energy. "I have to get some sleep, tomorrow is a big day, you can stay as long as you'd like" celestia said, getting up from her resting position on the grass. Twilight nodded and refocused her attention on the stars. Celestia looked back and saw something different in twilight. For once, she was in a state of calm and it pleased her to no end. Celestia then took her leave and made her way out of the garden with a smile on her face. Twilight was just glad that her head could be clear for at least her moment she's spending under the stars.
The next day, early morning: spike and trixie's guest room
The sunlight was beaming through the window, signaling the start of a new day. Spike was wide awake, thinking about the conversation he was going to have today. "Should i do it earlier or later?" spike asked himself. Although he was fighting with himself on the timing, he knew today was going to be the day. The intense talk that trixie and him had last night gave influence to this decision. Spike also had another thing on his mind about that night. "My eyes… huh" this was something that refused to leave spike's head after he heard it. I mean, they are just the eyes of any other dragon. What makes them so special to her? Spike decided to shake that out of his mind. Besides, it definitely not the most important thing he's up to today. As his eyes were glued to the ceiling, he heard the yawn of a waking mare. Spike was surprised that she even had the energy to wake up early after last night. "Ugh…." was the first words that escaped from trixie's lips. She lifted her head and looked towards the drake in almost half contempt. "Dragon, why am i up?" trixie asked. Spike looked towards her and was almost ready to be offended by her statement but two things kept that from happening. One, after the argument they had last night, he's giving her a free pass. Two, the mare had a hilarious case of bedhead and spike was trying to contain his laughter. Spike was trying to just be silent on the matter but little snickers kept coming out. Trixie's contempt was replaced with confusion at spike's snickering. "What are you…." before trixie could even finish her sentence, she looked towards the room window. In the small bit of reflection, she saw her bedhead. "Oh… of course!" trixie exclaimed and it was with this reaction that spike started to laugh.
Trixie was at first slightly irritated but seeing him laugh after what happened the previous night. It allowed her to loosen up for his sake and give off a small chuckle herself. Something about today had a different feel for even trixie. "I don't.." what seemed like a rouge thought popped in her head. "Alright, alright, enough fun, you have a mare to confront" trixie said, spike was already done with his laugh at this point. "I only laughed for like, 4 seconds" spike replied in a snarky tone. "Well… 4 seconds too long" trixie replied jokingly. Spike sighed, getting his reminder of the big event for today. "Come on, you can do this…" trixie said to the seemingly worried drake. "Oh, i know, just preparing myself mentally" spike replied. Trixie was willing to accept this but something was starting to bother her as well. "To go" parts of a thought were radiating in her head. The reason why she even managed to get up was because she didn't want to miss something. "Alright, i'm gonna take a shower…" spike said, getting up from his bed and heading into his bathroom. Trixie nodded and decided to wait for spike to finish before taking hers. She sat in silence while the hearing the water in spike's shower run. Her gaze was focused on the door to his bathroom. Then, the final piece of her unorganized thought came to her. "Want you" it didn't take long for trixie to piece it together. The only thing she had left to do was say it. Confirm the feeling she's been having this entire trip, something was even on her mind while sleeping on the train. "But it's selfish, it's beyond selfish" she said to herself quietly, not wanting to risk spike hearing her. Trixie was willing to follow through on not saying anything relating to that thought. However, as soon as she heard spike turning the water down, it felt as if a time limit was placed on her. "Don't let them take him from…" trixie kept trying to cut that line of thinking short. She would rather stay quiet then fall into that trap of thinking. Then, spike emerged from the bathroom.
Trixie looked directly at him and was glady silent when he addressed her. "Alright, do you want me to wait for you or…" spike was about to ask but trixie shook her head. "No, i'll meet you" trixie said, with spike nodding in acknowledgement. "Alright everyone, breakfast is indeed ready!" both of them heard luna's booming voice through the door. "Go on, tell luna i'll be there in a little bit" trixie said, trying to rush spike out of the door. Spike nodded and made his way out of the room. Trixie took the small bit of time she had alone and was ready to admit something she feared for awhile. "I don't want him to go…" trixie said the first part just fine. The second one was a little harder for a good reason. She hasn't felt this way for any pony in years and no one has felt it for her. "I need to figure these stupid feelings out!" she said in frustration. For now, she decided to start her shower and hopefully enjoy a good breakfast this morning.
An: i'm starting with the biggest i'm sorry ever. A lot of really big life stuff happened that delayed this chapter for so long. Every time i've promised a new chapter at a designated time, it never worked out. Now the chaotic part of my life is figured out for now, i can promise you this. The next chapter is coming out either this month or the beginning of next month. I'm working really hard on consistent chapters and i hope you stick around for the ride. Thank for you reading and following this story. :)